Jean pierre albert galibert



(No Model.)k

J. P. A. GALIBERT. L11-1"-J BUOY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

JEAN PIERRE ALBERT GALIBERT, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

LIFE-BUOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,956, dated October27, 1891.

Application filed May 9, 1891. Serial No. 392,242. (No model.) Patentedin France August 23, 1890, No. 207,798.

is valuable, and in part to construct a buoy which shall be staunch anddurable and of the proper form to produce the best results.

The invention will be fully described hereinafter and its novelfeaturescarefully deiined in the claim. y

In the drawings serving to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is asectional side elevation of the inflated buoy, the plane of the sectionbeing indicated by line I I in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the buoy, and Fig. 3 is an end View. Fig,A 4 is anenlarged sectional detail view of the mouth-piece for inliating thebuoy.

In constructing my buoy I usually proceed as follows: I take a piece ofsome strong airtight and water-proof fabric or material and make of it asack or bag S, having preferably the proportions of about forty inchesin length and sixteen inches in diameter. The seams will be madeperfectly air and water tight. vWhen distended,this sack has nearly theform of a cylinder, and as a cylinder has very lit- Y tle stability as afloat I give toitthe flattened `or mattress-like form yseen in thedrawings by means which l will now describe. Four ties c are inserted inthe sack before it is closed, and these are secured at their ends to therespective walls of the sack by means of plates or disks r, arranged inpairs, so as to clamp the material between them, one disk being insideand its mate outside of the sack. The inner disk is secured to the tiec. The disks will be of wood by preference. Other disks r', alsoarranged in pairs, are iixed in a similar manner to other parts of thebuoys, as shown, so as to provide attaching-points for appendiceswhereby persons in the Wa- 5o ter may convenien tly seize thebuoy andhold to it. These appendices Qcalso provide means for uniting any numberof the buoys together to serve as a raft. lVhen the buoy is empty orcollapsed, it may be compressed into a very small compass and it hasvery little weight. I have given a convenient size and proportion forthe buoy; but it may of course have other proportions and dimensions.Then made quite small, the buoy will serve as a life-pre- 6o server andwill be useful for teaching swimming in swimming-schools.

Fig. 4 illustrates a convenient mouth-piece for infiating the buoy. Inthe nipple t', which is secured to the buoy, is screwed a tubular valvea, the inner end of which is closed and forms a disk which seats itselfon a packing d and closes the air-inlet b. Then the valve is seated, itmay be secured in place by a laterally-arranged set-screw e. It will beseen. 7o that the ties c impartv to the buoy a mattresslike form.

IIaving thus described my invention, I claim- As an improved article ofmanufacture, an iniiatable life-buoy consisting of a sack With flattenedfaces composed of ai r-tight fabric or material having ties o arrangedat intervals within said sack and connecting and distancing itsflattened Walls or faces, said ties be- 8o ing fastened at theirextremities to the material of the sack through the medium of disks o',arranged in pairs, which clamp the material at the.points where the tiesare attached, all as set forth, whereby when the buoy is distended theties impart to it a flattened or mattress-like form.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

4JEAY `IIERRE ALBERT GALIBERT. Witnesses:

RoE'r. M. I-IooPER, MICHEL COQUAED.

